Tuesday, April 14, 2015
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I've been using cloth diapers for over a year now.  We were part-time users until Karebear was about 10 months.  After we figured out that hemp fitteds and Thirsties covers held up over 6 hours-  the perfect overnight solution- we finally made the leap to full time cloth diapering.
We did have some issues once before.  I was using Free and Clear with the newborn diapers and as she got bigger, the diapers got stinkier. We switched to Tide, no issues (except that I honestly don't feel comfortable using it, due to all the stuff that's in it).  I wanted to go green and so I tried Rockin' Green but it's like the smell has come back with a vengeance.  I'd say it smells like a nasty men's restroom.  Definitely time to strip cloth diapers when they smell like that!  
I'm not going to lie.  It took quite a bit of research to decide what method to use for stripping.   It seems like there's large groups of people who say to strip specifically one way or another.  Usually involves purchasing specific cleaners that you probably have NEVER bought in your entire life.  Some cleaners are very harsh and some are very expensive.  We chose to cloth diaper to save money, so these "recommendations" feel like stripping would end up being way too much work.  
If you think about your cloth diaper routine, it most likely is entirely different than the next cloth diaperer... Something I've learned is that there isn't a one size fits all approach to anything cloth diaper related.  If you find something that seems to work for you, I think that's great!  I prefer making things as simple as possible, with what I have on hand. So I'm sharing with you today an easy and efficient way to strip cloth diapers.  This is what worked well for me because not only is it affordable and convenient, but also very effective!
Step 1: Start with clean diapers!  Set your washing machine to fill with the most water (usually a heavy-duty wash setting) on HOT. Add in 1 scoop of OxyClean and 1/3 cup of bleach. Put all your natural fiber diapers, like hemp and bamboo in your washing machine.  
Meanwhile take all the clean pocket diapers, covers, all in one's and microfiber inserts and put them in the bathtub.  Fill halfway with HOT water and squirt some blue Dawn dish soap in.  Just 1 tablespoon should be plenty to wash up between 30 diapers and inserts.  Handwash throughly. Squeeze and rub all that stink away.  
Step 2: Rinse until the water runs clear.  Knead them like you do bread, swish and swirl and spray down.
Set all the pockets, covers, AIO's aside for the washing machine.   
Refill the tub halfway of HOT water again, but add in half a cup of bleach (visit your bleach manufacturer's website for proper ratio of bleach to water for maximum disinfection).  Let the inserts soak 6 hours or longer in the water mixture. Put on gloves to drain the water and definitely before handling the inserts. Knead, rinse and soak in water for a couple more hours.  Then rinse and wash ALL the diapers you started out with in the tub WITHOUT DETERGENT until all suds are gone. Run another wash but this time, just go along and do your normal washing routine.    
Your washing routine should be based on what kind of washing machine you have (HE or non-HE), how hard your water is, what chemicals/additives you feel safe using regularly and cost.    
 Step 3:  Sun everything, let it go from washing machine to line.  The UV rays will kill off any bacteria still around. Be careful not to over-dry, the PUL waterproof backing on diapers doesn't tolerate high heat.  As soon as the diapers are dry, I whip the natural fiber diapers in the air a few times to soften them back up.  Now you should be able to say your diapers smell absolutely marvelous and hopefully gain back their absorbency and no more leaks!  
Latched On Mom did not receive payment for providing this information. All opinions are my own, written by me.  

1 comment:

  1. Great guide! I am getting ready to strip and prep my cloth diapers for my baby coming in June.

    ReplyDelete

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